On 16/12/2013 19:49, Basil Jet wrote:
On 2013\12\16 18:59, Arthur Figgis wrote:
On 16/12/2013 17:13, Jarle Hammen Knudsen wrote:
Take a look at theTramlink tracks near Church Street tram stop at this
Google Streetview link: http://goo.gl/maps/3w0p7

What is the advatage of having the point so far from the curve?

IIRC it keeps the moving parts out of the way of road traffic.

I was told by workmen working on these points that this is the reason,
although there is no particular reason why workmen should know the true
or complete answer.


It maybe
also has some signalling benefit, but I've forgotten what if anything
that is.

In Amsterdam the diverging junctions can have enough room for three
trams or more between the points and the road junction where the routes
geographically diverge. This is done so that multiple trams can arrive
gradually during a red phase and each be put on the correct track, and
then when the light turns green they can all whoosh off quickly in their
various directions. If the points were at the junction, there would be a
wait between the trams traversing the junction while the points were
changed, lengthening the green phase and reducing the capacity of the
junction. But I don't think that is an issue at the Croydon junction
concerned.

I've seen it suggested that allowing more than one UK (or Croydon?) tram
through a set of lights per cycle is Not Allowed, as it would cause the
sky to fall in, or something.

--
Arthur Figgis Surrey, UK